How to Lose Weight and Become Healthy, Naturally

by Kathy AshleyJuly 22, 2015

When you start thinking about how to lose weight and become healthy, do you ever look at the options and feel overwhelmed by all the information?

Truthfully, the diet industry is big business, to the tune of many billions of dollars every year! Their goal is to make money, not necessarily help you get healthy. Many of these companies make promises to get you there quickly and easily, but often at the cost of your own health and wellness.

Their definition of “healthy” usually translates to helping you to lose a few pounds. Most times this means either having to take some kind of expensive supplement or highly processed protein shake, and putting your body through a lot of unnecessary misery, with extremely strict dietary guidelines and sometimes even dangerous side effects. You might lose some weight, but that’s about it, and many times it will come back with a vengeance!

True health cannot be achieved by only taking off some pounds. Weight loss is part of the picture, certainly, but far from the whole answer. The good news is there are healthy, easy and effective ways to lose weight that produce results right away, therefore keeping you motivated and feeling great in the process.

Doesn’t that sound wonderful? I think so, and what I am about to share with you will help you get started losing weight while at the same time helping you to feel great in your body and be naturally healthy for the longterm.

Follow these healthy and simple weight loss strategies to get started —

Drink your water. It is important that you drink enough water every day, but to also be strategic about it in order to maximize your weight loss efforts. For the purpose of this article, one glass is equal to 12 ounces. Drink your first glass upon waking in the morning, and make this one lemon water. Mix a bit of lemon juice with it or use a couple drops of lemon essential oil instead, which is my preferred option. This is good for digestion, will help to wake you up, and also alkalize your system. Drink your second glass of water mid-morning, and have your third glass about 20-30 minutes before lunch. Only sip water during meals, as if you have too much while eating it can interfere with digestion. Have your 4th glass of water mid-afternoon, and your 5th 20-30 minutes before dinner. Drink your sixth and last glass of water for the day early in the evening. This is 72 ounces of water for the day.

Eat only whole, plant-based foods. Preferably raw foods, which are very detoxifying and healing for your body. Buy organic when you can. Stay away from meat and dairy, as they are full of hormones, pesticides, and GMOs. Avoid fish as well — most is farm-raised in unhealthy environments. Wild-caught fish, in my opinion, is unhealthy as well given the extreme pollution in our lakes, rivers and oceans. Plant based foods have all the nutrients we need to have a very healthy body.

Keep breakfast and dinner light. Digestion takes a lot of energy — early in the morning your body simply isn’t ready to digest heavy foods; in the evenings it’s best to keep your food light because there is important healing work for the body to do as you sleep. These two strategies will keep energy high and promote weight loss. Have a green smoothie for breakfast, and maybe a salad or soup for dinner. Make lunch your biggest meal of the day as digestion is strongest between the hours of 10am-2pm. Don’t eat after 6:30pm.

Avoid processed food products. Most of the items found in the central area of the grocery store are to be carefully considered and should generally be avoided. These items are extremely unhealthy, most certainly contain GMO ingredients, and promote weight gain and disease.

Plan your meals, keep it simple, and be prepared. Nothing can derail weight loss efforts faster than to find yourself unprepared and hungry! Plan ahead what you are going to be eating for a whole week, and do your shopping on the same day every week. Meals, especially raw food meals, take very little time to prepare and are some of the healthiest, best tasting, and most satisfying foods on the planet. You can put together a healthy meal in 5-15 minutes. Need some easy recipes? Check out my raw food recipes!

Do you currently use any of these strategies in effort to lose weight and get healthy? Comment below and let me know what you think!

These are only a few suggestions to help you get started. I have many natural health strategies and techniques to lose weight, have high energy, detoxify, and regain health and vitality for a lifetime.

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